Saturday, January 31, 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

Anytime someone has included me in a note on facebook recently it has been to show me 25 things about them. And I have read every single one. I'm supposed to respond with 25 of my own "things."

Here goes:25 Things

1. I love to make to-do lists…just so I can cross the individual tasks out when they are done. 2. I really like to bake. It is a rare occasion to come to my house and not have some sort of homemade treat there. 3. My dream job would be to be a photographer for National Geographic. 4. My worst fear is drowning, and I can sometimes be scared of waves. 5. I love trying to find good musicians before they get to the radio. 6. I want 4 kids, just like in my crazy family. And yes, I know I used to say horrible things about how fetuses are like parasites that just feed off your insides and give you cankles and that once they were born they look like aliens. Anyway, I have really done a complete 180 in that regard. I will admit, however, that I am scared I am not going to be a good mom. 7. I really want to be good at running. Like really bad. 8. Sometimes I wonder if this life is real. Weird I know… maybe I should drink less wine. 9. My all time favorite movie is Wizard of Oz. 10. I hate how big my big toe is. People used to make fun of it. They also used to make fun of my belly button because it isn’t really an innie or an outie, it’s hard to explain and I have probably said too much. I’m not a freak, I promise. 11. I wish I had lived abroad for a year or more. I guess this isn’t completely out of the question. 12. I want to travel everywhere and have real, genuine experiences in all the places I go. And try all the food and alcohol that is native to that country. 13. I have literally THE BEST FRIENDS in this whole wide world. They will never know how much they mean to me. I sincerely believe that.14. Raisinets are my favorite candy. 15. I have never broken a bone. 16. When I go to doctor’s offices, I always look to see if they get People magazine…it is a guilty pleasure. 17. I really like Apple Juice. So much so that I felt the need to capitalize it as if it was a proper noun. 18. Sometimes I wish I could redo parts of my life. 19. I have never ever tried to smoke a cigarette. And to be honest, I think the only reason I haven’t is because I like to be able to say that I have never tried one. 20. I pick my nails. I have tried soooooooo incredibly hard not to, but I have been doing it since I was so little that I can’t stop because now I do it unconsciously. 21. I used to be made fun of all the time. I was not a pretty teenager. Not until college. And to be honest, I just realized about a year ago that I am not unattractive. I mean, I can seriously vividly remember when Mike Delarusso used to pass me notes a lunch on napkins saying “You’re ugly” at lunch in the cafeteria and then the other time he tried to run my over with his car freshman year. After my mom called his dad, I’m sure he must have gotten a good beating because the teasing from him stopped. Sometimes ignoring it is just not the answer. 22. I have really pretty blue eyes but honestly, I think blue eyes are really, really creepy, especially on boys that aren’t my brothers. My friends will tell you that I refer to them as “rapist eyes.” 23. I have an unhealthy obsession with reality shows. 24. I am right handed but have always worn my watch on my right wrist and feel naked without it25. I’m positive that the best day of my life hasn’t happened yet even though I have had some truly amazing ones.

I was taking some photos today and went to put them on my computer when I realized I didn't even post these photos from New Years! It was a quiet night of Apples to Apples until 11:58ish came around. Midnight always comes so quick!

It takes a real photographer to get awesome pics like this from the TV... :-)

Obviously...I have found some old photos that I wanted to share. I'm sure I will run out soon.

Sorry rents...Cindy if you still read this, this one is for you, just so you can make fun of my mom all day at work! And seriously, why have we not done happy hour? My mom talks about you all the time...and I am pretty sure we would be best friends. That's right, I'm calling you out on my blog. :-)

Aren't you glad we don't live in a place where this hair style is still acceptable?

Monday, January 26, 2009

There are a couple of days in my life I will never forget: riding a bike without training wheels, my first day of real school, my first kiss, meeting Melanie, graduating from high school and college and grad school, the day the first person I ever really knew died, where I was on Sept 11th, the day Christine Butto called me and offered me my first job after college, my wedding, among several others.

Looking through old photos recently, I came across this one, it was the day I learned to tie the laces on shoes. It was in pre-school, the day we went on a field trip to the pumpkin patch. My mom was a chaperone on the trip and while we were waiting to get on the bus to leave, was when the tying of the shoes finally clicked in my head.

Thinking of learning to tie my shoes makes me think of all of the other skills I learned when I was young that I still do today...and I've been more so thinking about how much more difficult it is for me to learn new things now.

For example: I got contacts (a day I will never forget, more on that soon). And when you get contacts at the eye doctor you have to sit through a little training session. Well, 42 minutes is what it took me to take the contacts that the doctor had put in my eye already, out, and then in and then out and then in again. Since then, I am almost positive me getting them in is only because of a fluke reason because every single time, I blink right before I get it in my eye, and you have no idea how frustrating this is. Okay you probably do, because who doesn't wear contacts? This is day 3 and today I get to keep them in for 10 hours...and that thought is nauseating because my eyes are so tired by the end of the day, that all they want to do is close, looking through these contacts is hard work for these eyes I decided.

But, if I had learned all this when I was little, by now, I would have been a pro at it.

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Melanie says that I never talk about her on my blog, so today I decided would be a good day to spend some time focusing on my little sister, who basically litters my website with her gorgeous face.

I was 13 years old when Melanie was born. I was at a sleep away camp in West Virginia and was shocked when my grandparents were the ones picking me up on my last day. I had that initial shock of "Oh my God, how did they die?" when I didn't see my mom, because yes, my obnoxious brain always jumps to the worst possible conclusion. Luckily, my grandparents were both wearing a matching set of smiles and when a friend asked if "she had the baby????" They said yes and we got all my stuff, packed up the car, and drove to a hospital far far away from Camp Rim Rock where I got to meet Melanie for the first time.

Now, to be honest, I was incredibly jealous of Melanie. It was hard enough being 13, dealing with the many dimensions of middle school cliques, not to mention having horrible control over my oily, gross, skin, and thin, stringy, blonde hair, plus the impending doom of the braces I didn’t even have yet on top of the fact that I have to deal with having a really super cute, adorable BABY sister. So no fair.

I’ll admit, when it was just my immediate family, Melanie as a baby was fun. The house was always littered with toys; there was always something going on, she just made the whole place livelier, parents included. The only way to get her to stop crying was to sing the Winnie the Pooh song or the Theme Song from Elmo's World on Sesame Street, which Brett sang all the time. Makes me realize how much his voice has changed...

I think it was around the time Melanie was a toddler, probably about 4 years old, that I actually started to snap out of my whole “I’m a bratty, disgruntled teenager who wants nothing to do with her family” phase. We all go through that right? (And my Mom is probably reading this right now saying hmm…I’m not sure she has ever grown out of that one.) But I assure you I have. I even remember the first vacation where I actually had a lot of fun just hanging out with my family. It was when we all hopped on an plane and flew to Disney World. The only time all 6 of us have ever been on an airplane together. Unless I have completely blocked something out, I am pretty sure the airplane ride was uneventful. I thought it was going to be horrible as I had ridden on planes before with small children.

I remember that was the vacation where I found out that Melanie broke my favorite snow globe with Cinderella and Prince Charming dancing in it. My mom and her were looking for a new one to replace it but never found one that was the same. I remember it so vividly because I can picture this one photo my mom snapped of me sitting off on a bench being angry about it and that no one had told me when it happened. Jeez…so silly to be so upset over something so small. Wish I had known that then.

I also distinctly remember another summer when Mom came home one day from getting Melanie from day camp and was really, really upset. She told me that today was the day that some stupid punk-ass teenage camp counselor (my words, not hers) decided to inform Melanie that me, Brett and Daren were not really her brothers and sister, that we were only her half siblings. I can remember feeling my heart break a little bit too. I know she knows but I hope she never forgets that none of us have ever, ever thought of her as anything but our sister. Our real sister.

And actually….that reminds me of another this other tidbit too. We were all in the car getting ready to go out to dinner and for whatever reason Melanie was describing me. She described me as “pretty, nice and sometimes mean.” I remember thinking then that I really did not want my sister thinking that her older sister was mean, that it was just unacceptable. I have consciously tried to be a better sister since then. I am hoping she wouldn’t describe me as that now, but who knows.

Anyway, now, Melanie is 10, a twig-like ballet dancer who can’t do a cartwheel to save her life and rocks out to the Jonas Brothers on a regular basis. She operates the television better than I can, and probably a computer too for that matter, is smart as all hell, a social butterfly and is incredibly stunning and surprisingly elegant for her age.

All in all, I think Melanie, or just having a little sister, has taught me a lot about my life. She has helped teach me that there are some things that just don't matter, and when they don't matter, we need not dwell on them because life is just too short. She has helped me to relize that I can be a better person and that I do have an effect on all those around me. And she has taught me that it is much better to love than to ever be jealous.

I’m sure if I forgot to say something about how wonderful she is that Melanie will post it in the comments section for me. Right?

It actually just occurred to me today that it is not that people don't know how to park at my gym, it is that my gym has the narrowest parking spots ever. I think they do it on purpose because I honestly have felt like maybe I should go back in and get back on my treadmill instead of wedging myself into my driver's side door trying ever so carefully not to leave a dent in the door of the car next to me.